Mechanisms of active hair bundle motion in auditory hair cells

Sound stimuli vibrate the hair bundles on auditory hair cells, but the resulting motion attributable to the mechanical stimulus may be modified by forces intrinsic to the bundle, which drive it actively. One category of active hair bundle motion has properties similar to fast adaptation of the mechanotransducer channels and is explicable if gating of the channels contributes significantly to the mechanics of the hair bundle. To explore this mechanism, we measured hair bundle compliance in turtle auditory hair cells under different conditions that alter the activation range of the channel. Force-displacement relationships were nonlinear, possessing a maximum slope compliance when approximately one-half of the transducer channels were open. When the external calcium concentration was reduced from 2.8 to 0.25 mM, the position of maximum compliance was shifted negative, reflecting a comparable shift in the transducer channel activation curve. Assuming that the nonlinearity represents the compliance attributable to channel gating, a single-channel gating force of 0.25 pN was calculated. By comparing bundle displacements with depolarization with and without an attached flexible fiber, the force contributed by each channel was independently estimated as 0.47 pN. These results are consistent with fast active bundle movements resulting from changes in mechanotransducer channel gating. However, several observations revealed additional components of hair bundle motion, with slower kinetics and opposite polarity to the fast movement but also linked to transducer adaptation. This finding argues for multiple mechanisms for controlling hair bundle position in auditory hair cells.